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| Red Herrings and Overlooked Clues in Plane Search | Red Herrings and Overlooked Clues in Plane Search |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| More than a month after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, searchers pledged to scour the ocean for the plane’s black boxes. But as the batteries powering the data and voice recorders’ sonic beacons fade, so do the chances that the airliner’s wreckage and the 239 bodies of the passengers and crew on board will be found. Several missteps, red herrings and bureaucratic delays have thwarted the search. | More than a month after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, searchers pledged to scour the ocean for the plane’s black boxes. But as the batteries powering the data and voice recorders’ sonic beacons fade, so do the chances that the airliner’s wreckage and the 239 bodies of the passengers and crew on board will be found. Several missteps, red herrings and bureaucratic delays have thwarted the search. |
| Initial reports of the plane’s location when it disappeared may have been inaccurate. | Initial reports of the plane’s location when it disappeared may have been inaccurate. |
| When the plane was last in contact with air traffic controllers, at 1:19 a.m. on March 8, about 40 minutes after takeoff, the communication was routine. Minutes later, the plane’s transponder, which signals its identity, altitude and speed to ground radar, failed or was shut off without transmitting any indication to ground control that the plane was veering west. With only that information available, searchers concentrated initially on the area where the plane was when it lost contact — the Gulf of Thailand and East China Sea. | When the plane was last in contact with air traffic controllers, at 1:19 a.m. on March 8, about 40 minutes after takeoff, the communication was routine. Minutes later, the plane’s transponder, which signals its identity, altitude and speed to ground radar, failed or was shut off without transmitting any indication to ground control that the plane was veering west. With only that information available, searchers concentrated initially on the area where the plane was when it lost contact — the Gulf of Thailand and East China Sea. |
| The plane veered off its flight path just as responsibility for guiding it was passing from Malaysian to Vietnamese ground controllers. | The plane veered off its flight path just as responsibility for guiding it was passing from Malaysian to Vietnamese ground controllers. |
| The cockpit signed off with air traffic controllers in Malaysia but never connected with the Vietnamese. This may have caused delays in even recognizing that the plane was missing. | The cockpit signed off with air traffic controllers in Malaysia but never connected with the Vietnamese. This may have caused delays in even recognizing that the plane was missing. |
| Malaysian military radar operators detected an unidentified plane flying erratically westward but did not take action. | Malaysian military radar operators detected an unidentified plane flying erratically westward but did not take action. |
| Days passed before it was revealed that radar signals had showed the missing plane experiencing changes in altitude and veering drastically off course more than once. Some search efforts were then redirected to the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea, where the radar traces ended, but more days passed before attention was completely diverted from the original search area. | Days passed before it was revealed that radar signals had showed the missing plane experiencing changes in altitude and veering drastically off course more than once. Some search efforts were then redirected to the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea, where the radar traces ended, but more days passed before attention was completely diverted from the original search area. |
| False sightings distracted searchers. | False sightings distracted searchers. |
| An object bobbing in the Gulf of Thailand that, from a distance, looked like a life raft turned out to be the lid of a large box, Vietnamese authorities said. An oil slick in Malaysian waters was found not to contain any jet fuel. An object that appeared to resemble an aircraft tail was a bale of logs lashed together. Other sightings of purported aircraft debris proved similarly fruitless. | An object bobbing in the Gulf of Thailand that, from a distance, looked like a life raft turned out to be the lid of a large box, Vietnamese authorities said. An oil slick in Malaysian waters was found not to contain any jet fuel. An object that appeared to resemble an aircraft tail was a bale of logs lashed together. Other sightings of purported aircraft debris proved similarly fruitless. |
| Investigators searching for an explanation for the plane’s disappearance focused initially on two passengers who boarded the aircraft using stolen passports. | Investigators searching for an explanation for the plane’s disappearance focused initially on two passengers who boarded the aircraft using stolen passports. |
| The two Iranian men were later identified and determined to have no known links to terrorist groups and were dismissed as suspects in the case; they were probably illegal migrants. | The two Iranian men were later identified and determined to have no known links to terrorist groups and were dismissed as suspects in the case; they were probably illegal migrants. |
| Officials directing the search did not learn for a week that satellite signals received from the plane showed that it had flown on for several hours after it left its scheduled flight path. | Officials directing the search did not learn for a week that satellite signals received from the plane showed that it had flown on for several hours after it left its scheduled flight path. |
| Technicians at Inmarsat, the satellite communications firm, pulled the logs of all transmissions from the plane within four hours of its disappearance, but missed a series of fleeting pings between Flight 370, a satellite over the Indian Ocean and a ground station in Perth, Australia. By the time the pings were analyzed and vetted, a week had passed. | Technicians at Inmarsat, the satellite communications firm, pulled the logs of all transmissions from the plane within four hours of its disappearance, but missed a series of fleeting pings between Flight 370, a satellite over the Indian Ocean and a ground station in Perth, Australia. By the time the pings were analyzed and vetted, a week had passed. |
| Early satellite data pointed to two arc-shaped regions where the plane might have ended up, one stretching north across Central Asia and the other south over the Indian Ocean. | |
| Days of search efforts along the northern arc proved to be wasted when further analysis of the signals showed the plane must have flown south instead. | Days of search efforts along the northern arc proved to be wasted when further analysis of the signals showed the plane must have flown south instead. |
| Satellite data can’t determine the plane’s altitude, leaving searchers to guess about how far it could have flown before running out of fuel. | Satellite data can’t determine the plane’s altitude, leaving searchers to guess about how far it could have flown before running out of fuel. |
| By the time of the last recorded signal, the plane would have been nearly out of fuel over a rough, deep ocean. The absence of an altitude indicator has made it challenging to narrow the search zone, which was around 90,000 square miles on Monday before it was narrowed to 30,000 square miles on Tuesday. | By the time of the last recorded signal, the plane would have been nearly out of fuel over a rough, deep ocean. The absence of an altitude indicator has made it challenging to narrow the search zone, which was around 90,000 square miles on Monday before it was narrowed to 30,000 square miles on Tuesday. |
| The latest search area in the Indian Ocean is remote, deep and difficult to access. | The latest search area in the Indian Ocean is remote, deep and difficult to access. |
| Angus Houston, the retired Australian air chief marshal who is coordinating the search, said that the task of combing the bed of such a large swath of the Indian Ocean more than 900 miles off the coast of Australia was “herculean.” | Angus Houston, the retired Australian air chief marshal who is coordinating the search, said that the task of combing the bed of such a large swath of the Indian Ocean more than 900 miles off the coast of Australia was “herculean.” |
| The batteries of the plane’s black boxes may have expired, which would extinguish the pings. | The batteries of the plane’s black boxes may have expired, which would extinguish the pings. |
| Since the detection of signals, possibly from the black boxes, on April 4-5 by the Chinese ship Haixun 01 and the Royal Australian Navy vessel Ocean Shield, no sounds have been picked up. These pings can only be heard over short distances in the ocean, and water pressure at great depths can affect the signal. Also, the batteries that power the sonic beacons of the plane’s data and voice recorders only last a month or so. | Since the detection of signals, possibly from the black boxes, on April 4-5 by the Chinese ship Haixun 01 and the Royal Australian Navy vessel Ocean Shield, no sounds have been picked up. These pings can only be heard over short distances in the ocean, and water pressure at great depths can affect the signal. Also, the batteries that power the sonic beacons of the plane’s data and voice recorders only last a month or so. |